Med Surge 6

-Responsibilities: The RN who i was following was in charge of giving medicines to the patients that their doctors had ordered and put in their chart, then answer any calls from patients rooms.
-New knowledge/skills: I learned that before nurses do any thing, even give patients water, they have to consult the doctor their working with!
-Best thing: The best thing was probably watching the floor meeting, it was interesting to hear all the things that nurses have to put up with!
-Worst thing: I watched as a nurse pulled the longest tube in the world out of a patients nose and not very many things gross me out but that just made me gag a little bit.
-This week was GOOD because I really liked the nurse I was following!

Technology Observed: I asked the nurse i was following what program they use to chart and she said it was called Serna, which i really different from the one i used to use at my chiropractic office. I also witnessed a nasal tube connected to long hose connected to a plastic jar that was put in place to drain stuff from this lady's stomach because she had a bowel obstruction.
Diagnostic Procedures: There was not necessarily a diagnostic procedure because we were on a mostly cardiac recovery floor. But my nurse did stop someone from getting discharged because she noticed the patient had a hard time swallowing and it turns out his food was going into his lungs and not down his esophagus
Therapeutic Procedures: I saw the nurse mix a little vile of something clear into a new IV bag and hang it for the patient because he needed a new antibiotic. I also saw a man with bilateral wound vacs on both his feet because he had a staff infection in his bones.
Diseases/Disorders: I observed a man with a staff infection in both his bones in his legs, I also saw a lady with diabetic ulcers on her legs that she told me were very painful.
Medical Terminology: The nurse called for a "STAT 12 Eval" which is a swallowing evaluation done by a speech therapist to test if someone is swallowing and their food is going into their lungs. STAT means right now!

I. When i first walked in i noticed how extremely quiet the floor was. It was almost eerily quiet because i had to search for a nurse! The nurses were all very friendly and seemed to really like their job. They all talked super quietly and then i noticed the "SHHH" posters which stands for "silent hospitals help healing". They used completely computer based charting with Serna. I also saw these alarm looking boxes that would light up every time a patient pressed the call button from their rooms.

II. The nurses were all very talkative and seemed to be really close. They knew their patients extremely well and talked about them to each other (which might be a HIPPA violation but I'm not sure). They all shared patients so they must work very well together, and they also told me they loved their boss which must be really nice. The safety procedures was they all wore masks and gloves into every room no matter what. I mostly saw the nurse walk around and hang all the 11 o'clock medicines.

III. A new thing I learned about was vancomicin is used to treat gram positive cocci clusters in the bloodstream. I also was told that med surge 6 was a "no pass zone" which means if a light goes off in front of a room you have to stop what you're doing and see what the patients calling for. i also leaned that when people go on maternity leave the hospitals will contract out for people like speech therapists.

IV. Overall i enjoyed med surge 6, although its too quiet a place for me to ever see myself working in. I really enjoyed talking to the nurse i was following because she was very excited to answer all my questions. The patients all really liked her too. I thought med surge was very educational but as a word of advice you need to be ready to ask questions because they don't talk unless talked to first.
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